Caulking compound cartridge with improved spout



April 25, 1961 D. A. PERKINS 2,981,449

CAULKING COMPOUND CARTRIDGE WITH IMPROVED SPOUT Filed Oct. 31, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 NVENTOR DONALD A. PERKIN- ,BYM,

ATTORNEYS April 25, 1961 D. A. PERKINS 2,981,449

CAULKING COMPOUND CARTRIDGE WITH IMPROVED SPOUT Filed Oct. 31, 195'! 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 4

FIG.

INVENTOR DONALD A PERKINS BYH/W///L%47 d ATTORNEYB CAULKING COMPOUND CARTRIDGE WITH IMPROVED SPOUT Donald A. Perkins, Rutland, Vt, assignor to Rutland Fire Clay Company, a corporation of Vermont Filed Oct. 31, 1957, Ser. No. 693,705

1 Claim. (Cl. 222-541) This invention relates to caulking compound cartons used in dispensers of the type generally known as caulking guns; and it relates more particularly to an improved spout or nozzle for the carton or cartridge containing ally operated gun, the spout being moved along the crack or crevice as the material is discharged. The cartridge containing the viscous compound comprises a cylindrical tube usually of paperboard with one end closed by a metallic head carrying a tapered discharge spout and its other open end receiving an internal piston-like cap after the tube has been filled so that the material will be forced out of the spout as the internal cap is intermittently moved further into the tube or carton by the action of the gun. These interchangeable cartridges are sealed, until they are to be used in the gun, by the internal cap at the rear end, and at the front end, by either a removable plug in an open spout or by a frangible sheet of plastic or other material placed over the inner end of the spout before States Patent the cartridge is filled with the caulking compound. The 1 usual pistol-grip type caulking gun has a body with means for holding the cartridge with its spout projecting forwardly, the spout being removably seated in a notch or hole at the front of the gun. At the rear of the gun body is a handle and an associated hand lever which actuates, in an intermittent or step-by-step movement, a plunger rod adapted to engage and move the internal cap of the cartridge to force the contents of the latter out of the spout. Such pistol-grip type of caulking guns, while made by various companies, are adapted to interchangeably receive the now standard size caulking compound cartridges also marketed by various companies. These standard cartridges have the compound in a cylin drical paperboardtube having a length of about 8 /2" and an internal diameter of about 1%", the rearpof the tubular body being closed by the above mentioned pistonlike. internal cap moved by the plunger rod of the gun, and the front being closed by the sheet metal cap or head which is crimped on the front end of the paper body and has a central hole of about through which'the discharge spout projects. While in the past such spouts have been made of metal, they are now usually molded of polyethylene or similar deformable plastic material and project about 1%" from the metal head. Such standard cartridges are marketed under the registered trademark Handi-Calk of The Gibson-l-lomans Company of Cleveland, Ohio, and under the registered trademark Vital of Vital Products Manufacturing Company of Cleveland, Ohio. Pistol-grip type of caulking guns ,adapted to interchangeably receive these standard cartridges are also marketed under these two trademarks and .by other companies.

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2 or crevices of various widths which have to be filled. With the prior cartridges the discharge openings of the spouts were so large that when small cracks were to be filled an unnecessarily large amount of the caulking compound had to be discharged as the spout was moved over the narrow crack or opening. That resulted not only in a waste of the compound but an unsightly appearance of the sealed opening.

The principal object of the invention is to provide such a standard cartridge with a spout or nozzle made of polyethylene or a similar plastic and having a closed tapered discharge end formed on its exterior with a :plurality of longitudinally spaced continuous ribs or shoulders disposed in planes at about a 50 angle to the axis of the spout, to provide shoulders along which the closed end of the spout may be cut off to provide discharge openings of different sizes from which may be extruded beads of the compound of predetermined diameters.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a plastic spout of sufficient length and stiffness to enable it to be successively cut off and elfectively'used to fill cracks of successively larger sizes, and also to. enable it to be folded upon itself to close and seal its opened end in the event that the entire contents of the cartridge is not used in performing a particular caulking job, the extra length of the spout permitting of the use of the device in right angle corners without the gun hitting the side walls, even after the top of the spout has been cut off to form a large discharge opening.

Another object is to so construct the closed plastic spout that it will not only have the above indicated calibrated cut off tip but may be mounted by an effective snap action in the hole of the metal outer cap or head of the standard cartridge.

With the above and other objects and advantages in view, the invention resides in the novel combinations and arrangements of parts and the novel features of construction hereinafter described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which show the present preferred embodiment of the invention.

scale, through the spout and the outer end of the carton;

Fig. 3 is a side view of the spout;

Fig. 4 is a front end view of the spout;

Fig. 5 is a much enlarged detail longitudinal section through a portion of the tapered end of the spout to showrthe shape of one of the ribs; and

Fig. 6 is a side view, on a reduced scale, of a known type of caulking gun with the improved cartridge therein, and showing the opened end of the spout folded upon itself and held under a hook at the outer end of the gun.

Referring more in detail to the drawings the numeral 10 denotes the improved dispensing spout or nozzle mounted on the front end of a cartridge 11 that contains the viscous caulking compound. The spout is molded of polyethylene or a similar plastic which is somewhat flexible, and it is preferably about 3" in length. Somewhat more than half of the length, the latter being longer than the now commonly used open-ended plastic inner diameter of about /2", the preferred thickness being .156". It will be noted that the bore of the tapered portion 13 forms a pointed discharge chamber or passage for the compound. At the rear end of the body portion is an outwardly projecting circular flange 16 and an annular groove or seat 17, the purpose of which will be hereinafter explained. The groove is at the front or outer face of the flange and is formed by a short thickened annular portion 18 the outer face of which is inclined inwardly and forwardly, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3.

Formed on the exterior of the tapered end 13 of the spout is a plurality of separate or independent outwardlyprojeeting ribs which extend continuously around the spout, and present integral forwardly facing shoulders spaced along the length thereof adjacent the outer extremity of said spout and lying in closely spaced parallel planes intersecting the axis of the spout at acute angles spaced at different distances from the closed end 14 to serve as guides for indicating angular planes in which the tapered portion may be cut off to provide angularly extending discharge openings of different sizes. Preferably three of these longitudinally spaced thickened portions or ribs are provided and they are designated by the numerals 19, 20 and 21. As best seen in Fig. 5, each of these markings or ribs is of angular shape in cross section and has a wide outer or rear face 22 substantially parallel with the spout axis and a short front face 23 adapted to form a shoulder adapted to serve as a cutting guide to easily and quickly position a cutting knife when a portion of the spout is to be cut off. These ribs or shoulders are preferably so positioned that when the cut is along the forwardly facing surface of the outermost rib 19 a discharge opening of A3" will be provided. When the cut is along the second rib 20 a 7 opening will be provided, and when along the third rib 21 the opening will be A". It will be seen that when a caulking job is to be done, the user of the tool will first cut the closed end of the spout along the rib 19 and caulk all fine cracks, and later out along the other ribs successively according to the sizes of the cracks or crevices, so that there will be no Waste of the compound and a neat workman-like job will result. The cuts will be along the shoulders 23 which as above noted are in planes at approximately a 50 angle to the axis of the spout, and since the tool is held at about a 50 anlge to the surface or area having the crack to be filled, most of the compound discharged will be forced directly into the crack.

The cartridge 11 is shown as a cylindrical tube of paperboard with an open rear end and with its front end closed by a sheet metal cap or closure plate 25 erimped, as at 26, on the end of the tube. This metal head or cap 25 has a central opening or hole formed in a centrally disposed outwardly bulged circular portion 27. The edge of the central opening 28 is flared outwardly to a slight extent as seen in Fig. 2. Before the tube is filled with the compound, the pointed end of the spout is inserted in the opening 28 from the interior of the tube and then forced forwardly until the flared edge at the opening snaps into the annular groove or seat 17. The slight flexibility of the plastic material of the spout permits the thickened portion 18 to yield inward and that action is facilitated by forming a circular recess 29 in the rear face of the flange 16 around the bore of the cylindrical portion 15. It will be noted that the recess 29 being close to the groove 17 leaves a thin connecting portion between the flange 16 and the portion of the spout.

As will be seen from the drawings, the shoulders all he in planes which intersect the plane of plate 25 at points lying radially outward, or laterally, of the periphery of the plate. Thus the spout can be conveniently positioned for use in a corner or the like without the converging surfaces of the corner servingas a stop against the closure plate 25 to prevent the opening at the end of the spout from reaching the intersection of these surfaces.

The standard caulking gun shown in Fig. 6 forms no part of the present invention. The gun has a concave body portion 30 with front and rear flanged ends 31 and 32 to receive and hold the cartridge 11, the front end being cut-away to receive the spout 10. At the rear of the body is a fixed handle 33 and an associated hand lever 34. The latter actuates suitable means such as a pawl and ratchet mechanism to move a plunger rod 35. This rod actuates the inner piston-like cap (not shown) in the tube 11 in a step-by-step manner to force the compound out of the spout in a continuous stream. The length and flexibility of the semi-rigid spout is such that even when its end is cut off at the third rib, the outer portion of the spout may be bent or folded, as shown in Fig. 6, and then engaged under a hook 36 on the end 31 of the gun, to close the spout and prevent the escape of any compound that remains in the cartridge after a part of it has been used. The caulking compound dries to a tough skin but remains soft and pliable underneath; and by thus closing the spout of a partly used cartridge the compound in the spout is prevented from drying. When the balance of the compound in the cartridge is to be used, the end of the spout is pushed from under the hook 36, and the slight resilience of the polyethylene plastic will cause the spout to straighten and assume its original form. When straightened the spout will still be semi-rigid as the gun is used to expel the balance of the compound in the cartridge. The use of the longitudinally spaced ribs or shoulders 19, 20, 21 at the tapered end of the spout enables the user to cut off the closed extremity and obtain a discharge opening of Ma", or /1" according to the sizes of the cracks or crevices in concrete, masonry, around door and window frames, etc. When the outer portion of the spout is cut off around any one of the enlargements or ribs, the flat cut end can be firmly pressed against a flat surface having a crack to be filled, and the compound will be effectively forced into the crack with little or no waste. The making of the rear portion of the spout of cylindrical shape as shown has several advantages. It permits of the use of a longer spout, with the correct taper of approximately 8 at its outer end, in the metal caps or heads of standard cartridges. If a long spout with a correctly tapered outer end is continuously tapered from end to end, the rear end would be too large in diameter to use in the standard cartridges and also too wide to be engaged with the spout receiving seat at the front of the standard caulking guns. If a long spout useable in the standard cartridges and guns, had a continuous taper from end to end, the pointed outer end would be too pointed or tapered to give the discharge openings of the proper sizes unless the cuts were made so far back from the closed end that the remaining portion of the spout would be too short for effective use in crevices and within right angular corners. If a shorter spout of a size for use in the standard cartridges and guns had the correct taper at its outer end, it would be too short for elfective use in such places andespecially when its closed end is cut off to provide a large discharge opening. By making the inner or rear portion of cylindrical shape, the proper taper can be obtained and the spout may be sufiiciently long that, even when cut off at the innermost rib 21, it will still be sufliciently long to permit its effective use in crevices and right angular corners without the gun hitting side walls. Further that shape makes it possible for the compound to flow easily into the spout from the cartridge before the tapered portion begins to slow down the flow, and hence the user will not have to exert as much pressure on the gun trigger.

From'the foregoing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, it will be seen that novel and advantageous provision has beenmade for carrying out the objects of the invention,'and while preferences have been disclosed, attention is invited to the possibility of making variations within the scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

A caulking compound cartridge adapted to be used in a caulking gun, comprising: a cylindrical tubular body closed at its rear end by an internal piston-like cap adapted to be actuated by said gun; a closure plate fixed on the front end of said body and having a centrally disposed hole therein; and a dispensing spout having a substantially cylindrical rearward portion molded of semirigid but flexible material, said rearward portion passing through said hole and being attached at its rearward end to said plate, said rearward portion projecting forwardly of said plate for a distance greater than the diametral dimension of said cylindrical tubular portion without a substantial diminishing of the cross-sectional area of said rearward portion and terminating at its forward end in an integrally molded conical spout portion converging forwardly therefrom at an angle of approximately 8 from the axis thereof, said conical spout portion being provided with a plurality of integral shoulders spaced along the length thereof' adjacent the outer extremity of said spout and lying in closely spaced parallel planes intersecting the axis of said spout at acute angles and intersecting the plane of said plate at points lying laterally of the periphery of said plate, said shoulders providing forwardly facing generally planar surfaces adapted to serve as cutting guides for removing the end of said spout at selected positions of varying sectional areas to provide an outlet opening of selected size, said shoulders being formed in the outer surface portion only of said spout, the inner surface thereof radially inward of said shoulders being smooth and uninterrupted.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,219,604 Trotter Oct. 29, 1940 2,550,132 Woods Apr. 24, 1951 2,646,906 Jones et al. July 28, 1953 2,687,831 Miller Aug. 31, 1954 2,740,229 Witwer Apr. 3, 1956 2,750,068 Platt June 12, 1956 2,759,635 Boyer Aug. 21, 1956 2,760,691 Henchert Aug. 28, 1956 2,769,578 Johnson Nov. 6, 1956 2,792,976 Stewart May 21, 1957 2,802,609 Donovan Aug. 13, 1957 2,831,615 Sherbondy Apr. 22, 1958 2,833,444 Sherbondy May 6, 1958 2,911,128 Krautkramer Nov. 3, 1959 

